Sizing and polishing of yarns



Dec. 9, 1958 F. OSBORNE 2,863,787

SIZING AND POLISHING OF YARNS Filed Dec. 8, 1954 '6 Sheets-Sheet 1 m 4 -51 d b )NVEHTOR:

FRANK OSBORNE De. 9, 1958 F. OSBORNE 2,863,737

SIZING AND POLISHING OF YARNS I Filed Dec. 8. 1954 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 Dec. 9, 1958 F. OSBORNE SIZING AND POLISHING OF YARNS 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Dec. 8. 1954 Dec. 9, 1958 v F. OSBORNE 2,863,787

SIZING AND POLISHING OF YARNS Filed Dec. 8. 1954 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVEHTOR. FRHHK OSBORNE Dec. 9, 1958 F. OSBORNE SIZING AND POLISHING 0F YARNS 6 SheetsSheet 5 Filed Dec. 8. 1954 JHVEHTORI FRANK OSBORNE Dec. 9, 1 958 F. OSBORNE 2,863,787

SIZING AND POLISHING OF YARNS Filed Dec. 8. 1954 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 I [A V FRAHK Os BoRNE 2,863,787 SIZING AND PoLrsnrNo F YARNS Frank Osborne, Nan Bield, Adlington, England, assignor to Firnia Wm. Ayrton & Co. Limited and Frank Osborne Application December 8, 1954, Serial No. 473,987

Claims priority, application Great Britain December 9, 195 3 7 Claims. (Cl. 117-7) This invention relates to the sizing and polishing of yarns and is particularly, though not exclusively, applicable to sewing threads.

The sizing of yarn is usually efiected by passing it through the nip of rollers which are immersed in a bath of size and then polishing is obtained by brushing the yarn while the size is still wet, which brushing has the effect of drying the size and imparting a polish'or shine.

Machines for the sizing and polishing of yarns in the manner aforesaid, as at present known, have several disadvantages. For instance, they are relatively large and cumbersome and in consequence expansive to buy, and although they are designed to process several yarns or ends simultaneously (fifty or so in parallel as it were), their total rateof production is low. The nip roller application of the size, besides having known disadvantages because of the immersion of the rollers in the size, is also a limiting factor preventing speeding up of the machine because any substantial increase given to the lineal speed of the yarn is found to reduce the polish which can ultimately be obtained and the cause of this reduction has been traced to the size bath. Also, unless the machine is really large and has several brushes the actual amount of brushing applied to any unit length of the yarn is quite small so that existing machines, in spite of their size, are deficient in the degree of brushing which should be applied to obtain an optimum polish, other factors remaining unchanged. There are serious difiiculties and disad vantages in increasing the number of brushes, or number of contacts with the brushes quite apart from the increase of the cost and size of the machine, not the least of which is the need for synchronising consecutive sections of the yarn through such contacts including the making of allowance for shrinking and stretching of the yarn as it becomes wet and then dry throughout the process, and the avoidance of built-up tensions or slack zones.

The present invention is based upon the aforesaid appreciation of the main factors of the process and apparatus as at present known, and has for its object an improved process and an improved apparatus for the sizing and polishing of yarns.

In the sizing and polishing of yarn wherein size is applied to the yarn and then the yarn is presented continuously to a rotary brush, the invention comprises the method of including the step of arranging the yarn over guides so as to form a substantially closed polygonal geometric figure around the said rotary brush for at least one complete convolution and so that a plurality of spans of yarn between such guides makes contact with the brush, and the further step of preventing the feed-back at least between consecutive convolutions of yarn tension due to frictional contact with the brush.

The method aforesaid may include the further step of compensating for stretch of the yarn during processing.

Also, according to the invention, apparatus for the sizing and polishing of yarns comprising means for drawing yarn through the machine, means for applying size to the yarn, a rotary brush and guide means for bringing said United States Patent lice is characterised in that the guide means are .so arranged that the path .of the yarn forms a substantially .closed polygonal figure around the :brush the sides of which figar provide contact points.

The apparatusaforesaid may be further characterised in that the path of the yarn encircles the brush several times and in that one of the guide means comprises a rotatable guide roller whereby tension in the yarn is dis tributed as between the several convolutions of the yarn about the brush; .or further characterised by input and output feed rollers and means for driving the same with the output rollers faster than the input rollers to compensate for stretch as. the yarn dries, and by driving means for the rotatable guide roller for driving the same at a peripheral speed intermediate of that of the other feed rollers; or further characterised inthat one of the guides is grooved forthe purpose of spacing the convolutions; or further characterised by means for reciprocating the grooved guide for the purpose of moving the position of the yarn relative. to the brush; or further characterised by stationary guide meansfor leading the yarn through the size, bath; or further characterised in that the stationary, guide means are carried by a lever adapted to be raised to facilitate threading of the yarn into the machine; or further characterised by a comblike guide for the yarn after leaving the size bath and preceding input feed rollers for the brushing zone whereby excess size is removed from the yarn and returned to the bath; or further characterised by means for reciprocating the comb-like guide.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a front perspective view of one example of a high speed threadsizing and polishing machine madein accordance. with the present invention;

Figure 2 is a rear perspective view of the machine shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a front elevation;

Figure 4 is a side elevation, and

Figure 5 is a rear elevation of the upper part of the same machine shown in Figures 1 and 2;

Figure 6 is a detail view in part section of a grooved and tapered yarn guide roller;

Figure 7 is a fragmentary view showing the size bath with the yarn guides in a raised orthreading position.

As shown in the drawings, the machine comprises a rectangular pedestal 10 of open structure measuring about 5 ft. by 2 ft., by 2 ft. back to front. Mounted above and at the front of such pedestal is a base panel 11 which carries all the mechanism for sizing and polishing the thread. Above the panel and carried on suitable brackets therefrom is a bobbin winding machine of known general construction for two bobbins 12 and 13 of which the bobbin 12 is conveniently driven as described later by friction wheel 14 from any electric motor 15 which drives also the sizing and polishing mechanism described later. The second bobbin is driven by belt 16 from the bobbin 1 2. On the pedestal are fixed bobbin-supporting spindle supports 17 and 18 suitably positioned at the base relative to the guide eye 19 and the first spring loaded tension guide roller 20 of the machine.

The sizing part of the machine comprises a troughshaped size bath 21 through which the yarns 22, 22a are arranged to pass, but instead of having feed rollers permanently immersed in the bath there are non-rotary guides 23, 24 and 25 which are carried on a lever 26 pivotally mounted at 27 at the back of the size bath 21 to one side thereof and above the bath so that the guides may be lifted out of the size by withdrawing a holding catch 28, which is adapted also to hold the lever in a raised position to facilitate dry threading. The first yarn guide 20 of the machine is in the known form of a spring loaded yarn-tensioning guide at one end of the bath,

which is carried on a fixed bracket 200, though it may be arranged for continuous mechanical axial movement for continuous traversing of the yarn 22, 22a relative to the aforesaid immersion guides 23, 24 and 25. Also mounted at the back of the panel, but above the bath at a convenient point for leading the yarns out of the bath are two yarn guides in the form of combs 29 and 30 of which the comb 30 is arranged for continuous backward and forward movement by mechanism not described, simultaneously with the aforementioned first guide though such movement is primarily functionaliy related to feed rollers 31, 32 to which the yarn passes therefrom and which also operate as squeezing rollers. The comb-like guide performs a secondary function of stroking off excess size and is inclined so that such ex cess falls away from the yarn and drips off the heel of the comb back into the size bath. From the guide comb the yarn passes to the nip of a pair of the feed rollers 31, 32 which are both driven from behind the panel. Such rollers are relatively side by side, the yarn passing up onto and over the first roller 31, down through the nip and round under the other roller 32 to be taken off upwardly at an inclination towards one side of the machine for entering the polishing zone. In the upper portion of the machine are draw off rollers 33, 34 of which the roller 34 is driven through a variable speed drive located behind the panel, including cone pulleys 35, 36 of which the cone pulley is mounted on the same shaft as the feed roller 31. This enables the draw-off rollers to be adjusted to take up stretch in the yarn.

In use, the sizing mechanism above described is easily threaded up dry by pulling on the catch 28 to release the guide lever 26 so that it may be raised out of the bath and secured by the same catch in such raised position (see Figure 7). The guides can then be roughly wiped so as to avoid applying too much size to the threads 22, 220 during threading and the end of such threads from the spools can be led to the feed rollers 31, 32. The guide lever may then be restored to its normal position with its guide rods 23, 24 and 25 sub merged in the size. As the yarn rises from the last guide through the size, most of the surplus size runs back into the bath, but as the yarn passes through the guide combs 29, 30 before reaching the feed rollers, any surplus size is wiped off and drips back into the size bath as previously described. It is a feature of this method of applying the size that the rubbing of the yarn against the submerged stationary guide rods 23, 24 and 25 is found to produce quicker and more effective penetration of the size than has hitherto been obtainable by the use of a submerged roller nip.

The drive from the motor includes a belt 37 to a driving disc 38 journalcd on a stub axle fixed to the back of the panel. Adjacent such stub axle and on the back end of the shaft carrying the feed roller 31 is a second disc 39 complementary to the disc 38 and partly overlapping therewith. Between such discs is a roller 40 suspended by a bracket 41 slidably mounted on a rod 42. These two discs 33, 39 and the roller 40 between them form a known type of variable speed drive. The bracket 41 is slidably adjustable along its guide rod 42 by means of a link 43, crank 44, 45 pivotally mounted on the base Ill. and further link 46 the upper end of which is connected to a control lever 47 associated with a quadrant 48 whereby the lever 47 and through it the roller til may be set to the required position according to the speed required for the yarn. The draw-off roller 34 is driven by a belt 49 from a shaft carrying the cone pulley 36, said shaft being adjustably secured to an arm 50 whereby belt tensions may be adjusted. The belt 49 also engages an expandable V-pulley 56a to drive the grooved roller 56 described later.

The polishing section of the machine comprises a single polishing cylinder 51, the periphery of which is covered with brush sections 52, with or without rubbing bars 52a as previously known for such polishing cylinders. The cylinder is about 10 inches in diameter and six inches in length and is fixed on the shaft of the electric motor 15 which as previously described is mounted behind the panel 11 with its shaft projecting therethrough. So as to support the yarns 22, 22a as convolutions in the form of a rectangular geometric figure around said cylinder with the sides of such figure intersecting the circular part of the brushes. There are four guides which stand out from the face of the panel, three of them 53, 54 and 55 being rollers freely mounted on radially adjustable spindles while the fourth 56, which is the second in order to contact of the yarn therewith, is a grooved tapered roller (see Figure 6) which is adapted to be driven from behind the panel by the belt 49 and which is also arranged for axial reciprocation so as to cause traversing of the yarn relative to the cylinder and to the other three guides. Around the said geometric figure and leading down to the size bath is a guard 57 of angle section. The yarn finally passes from the outer convolution of the grooved guide roller 56 to the nip of the pair of draw-off rollers 33, 34 above the panel and from which it passes to the respective guides 58, 58a of the spool winder. The usual spool carrier is driven by the friction drive from a top shaft which in turn is connected by belt drive to an intermediate shaft which is driven by variable cone belt drive from the feed roller first mentioned. The said top shaft also carries one of the draw-oft rollers aforesaid while the grooved guide roller is also driven from the said intermediate shaft through sensitive variable gearing. By this means it is possible to provide, not only as is well known a slightly greater peripheral speed for the draw-off rollers than for the feed rollers, but also to drive the grooved guide roller at an intermediate peripheral speed. The traverse mechanism for the comb 3t) and the guide roller 56 is not described as various forms of such mechanism are well known and as such forms no part of this invention.

In use, yarn from the sizing section is threaded around the guides firstly to the bottom guide roller 53, then to the back groove of the driven grooved roller 56 and then round the other two guide rollers 54 and 55 and back to the next forward groove of the driven roller 56 and so on forming ten or twelve complete convolutions around the cylinder until it passes from the last forward groove of the grooved roller 56 to the nip of the draw-off rollers 33, 34. When the cylinder is rotating the yarn is thus brought into working contact some forty to forty-eight times with the cylinder.

The action of the intermediate grooved and driven guide roller is to hold back or distribute any tensions developed in the yarns by frictional engagement of the brush therewith so that such tension shall not build up, through the multitude of its convolutions and contacts with the brush, and which build up would otherwise overstress the yarn and has hitherto precluded any idea of providing such multitude or plurality of contacts.

During the passage of the yarn through the polishing section it stretches and such stretch is taken by providing a taper on the rollers 53, 54, 55 and 56. The taper on such rollers should theoretically correspond exactly to the yarn stretch but an approximation thereto is found to work effectively. Thus for cotton yarns, an average stretch of 4% is found to be effective to allow each contact of the yarn to drive forward to the contact of the next convolution or equally to prevent cumulative yarn tension from being fed back to the earlier convolutions.

With this machine it has been found that yarn can be sized and polished at a higher lineal speed than has hitherto been possible, that a better and higher polish is possible and yet the machine is smaller and more suitable for small users than any machine hitherto made for the purpose. Whilst in the above machine two yarns are treated simultaneously from the moment they reach the guide eye 19 until they leave the take-off roller 34, such machine could be made for dealing with a single yarn or simultaneously with more than two yarns. The machine is preferably provided at 59 with some known form of broken thread stop motion which may conveniently break the circuit to the starter holding coil for the motor.

What I claim is:

1 Yarn sizing and polishing apparatus, comprising, in combination, a support member; yarn supply means mounted on said support member; yarn take-up means mounted on said support member so that the yarn is adapted to be transported along a predetermined path between said supply means and said take-up means; sizing means mounted on said support member along said predetermined path for sizing the yarn; polishing means mounted on said support member along said predetermined path between said sizing means and said take-up means for polishing said sized yarn; a plurality of guiding means rotatably mounted on said support member adjacent said polishing means for guiding said sized yarn along said predetermined path and into at least one contact with said polishing means; first driving means for driving at least one of said guiding means at a predetermined speed to impart a predetermined speed to said sized yarn; second driving means mounted on said supporting member between said sizing means and said guiding means for driving said sized yarn at a speed less than said predetermined speed; and at least a third driving means arranged on said support member between said polishing means and said take-up means for driving said polished yarn at a speed higher than said predetermined lineal speed.

2. In a method of producing polished yarns, in combination, the successive steps of applying wet sizing material to the yarn; transporting said wet sized yarn to be polished while simultaneously maintaining the tension of said wet sized yarn at a predetermined level so that said wet sized yarn is transported at a first predetermined speed; polishing said wet sized yarn in polishing means while said yarn is being transported at a second speed higher than said first predetermined speed; and tensioning said polished yarn so that it is removed from the polishing means at a speed higher than said second speed.

3. Yarn sizing and polishing apparatus, comprising, in combination, a support member; yarn supply means mounted on said support member; yarn take-up means mounted on said support member so that the yarn is adapted to be transported along a predetermined path between said supply means and said take-up means; sizing means mounted on said support member along said predetermined path for sizing the yarn; substantially cylindrical polishing means mounted on said support member along said predetermined path between said sizing means and said take-up means for polishing said sized yarn; a plurality of guiding means rotatably mounted on said support member adjacent said polishing means substantially parallel to the axis of said cylindrical polishing means for guiding said sized yarn along said predetermined path and into at least one contact with said polishing means; first driving means for driving at least one of said guiding means at a predetermined speed to impart a predetermined speed to said sized yarn; second driving means mounted on said supporting member between said sizing means and said guiding means for driving said sized yarn at a speed less than said predetermined speed;

and at least a third driving means arranged on said support member between said polishing means and said takeup means for driving said polished yarn at a speed higher than said predetermined lineal speed.

4. Yarn sizing and polishing apparatus comprising, in combination, a support member; yarn supply means mounted on said support member; yarn take-up means mounted on said support member so that the yarn is adapted to be transported along a predetermined path between said supply means and said take-up means; sizing means mounted on said support member along said predetermined path for sizing the yarn; cylindrical brush polishing means rotatably mounted on said support member along said predetermined path between said sizing means and said :take-up means for polishing said sized yarn; a plurality of guiding rollers rotatably mounted on said support member adjacent said polishing means for guiding said sized yarn along said predetermined path. and into at least one contact with said polishing means; first driving means for driving at least one of said guiding rollers at a predetermined speed to impart a predetermined speed to said sized yarn; second driving means mounted on said supporting member between said sizing means and said guiding rollers for driving said sized yarn at a speed less than said predetermined speed; and at least a third driving means arranged on said support member between said polishing means and said take-up means for driving said polished yarn at a speed higher than said predetermined lineal speed.

5. In the sizing and polishing of yarn wherein size is applied to the yarn and then the yarn is presented to a brush as a helical closed figure around guide rollers so as to contact the brush several times, at least one of said rollers being driven, the method comprising controlling tension in the yarn including positive feed-in of the yarn to said guide rollers at a predetermined lineal speed just less than the effective lineal speed of said driven roller and taking-oft the yarn from said guide rollers at a lineal speed higher than the effective lineal speed of said driven roller.

6. Apparatus for the sizing and polishing of yarn comprising, in combination, a rotary brush; means for driving said brush; a plurality of rotatably mounted guide rollers for supporting the yarn as a plurality of laterally spaced convolutions of polygonal shape around said brush with portions of the yarn spanning the space between at least some of said guide rollers presented to the brush in each convolution; driving means for at least one of said guide rollers; feed-in means for the yarn preceding said guide rollers; take-off means for the yarn succeeding said guide rollers; and means for driving said feed-in at an effective speed just less than the effective peripheral speed of said driven guide roller and said take-off means at an efiective speed higher than the effective peripheral speed of said driven guide roller.

7. Apparatus according to claim 6, characterized by variable speed control means for varying slightly the relative effective speeds of the feed-in, guiding and take-off means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 81,886 Fenner Sept. 8, 1868 559,565 Briggs May 5, 1896 2,220,958 Jennings Nov. 12, 1940 2,463,111 Jones Mar. 1, 1949 2,673,385 Williamson et al Mar. 30, 1954 

2. IN A METHOD OF PRODUCING POLISHED YARNS, IN COMBINATION, THE SUCCESSIVE STEPS OF APPLYING WET SIZING MATERIAL TO THE YARN; TRANSPORTING SAID WET SIZED YARN TO BE POLISHED WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY MAINTAINING THE TENSION OF SAID WET SIZED YARN AT A PREDETERMINED LEVEL SO THAT SAID WET SIZED YARN IS TRANSPORTED AT A FIRST PREDETERMINED SPEED; POLISHING SAID WET SIZED YARN IN POLISHING MEANS WHILE SAID YARN IS BEING TRANSPORTED AT A SECOND SPEED HIGHER THAN SAID FIRST PREDETERMINED SPEED; AND TENSION- 